A senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) has called on the central bank to issue digitized tokens on a blockchain platform,The Korea Times reported.
Lee Dae-ki believes that a decision by central banks to issue digital currencies on a blockchain platform could help them save costs for the issuance of such currencies, which will eventually allow consumers to make easier payments.
"Technology based on blockchain, the distributed accounting database, will show great promise in enabling central banks to improve their defenses against cyber attacks and overall the way payments are conducted between institutions and consumers," Lee said in a report.
Lee Dae-ki believes that cryptocurrencies have the potential to become a “revolution in finance," but adds that “the Bank of Korea (BOK) is still a long way from creating a digital version of the Korean won as digital tokens still have a confusing legal status.”
Still, the researcher considers it possible for central banks to issue digital tokens on blockchain technology and allow them to be traded with an equal face value, which he believes is the way to cut down on speculative trading.
"This will overhaul the banking industry as banks will have to compete with digital currency systems by providing higher interest or additional services which will be beneficial to consumers," the researcher said.
According to an earlier report, Israel considers issuing a digital currency.